There’s your own medicine on a spoon. Open your evil lips and lap it down like the bitch you are.
I look out the window again. Good, my target is still there.
Go away, Sable!I employ my only known technique to encourage her exit. I keep talking. “You think you are free, but you are not. Your leash is long, but one day, it will snap back.” I smirk. “And those people holding your leash, whom you think are your friends, you will be reminded they are not your friends but your masters.”
“I’m freer than you.” She argues in a weak defense. “I will be after tonight. Are you really planning on killing him?”
Turning, I try to ignore her, but Sable hunts down attention.
“You know,” she begins as I bend down to grab the bow, “I think you’d do it. Kill me, but then you’d feel guilty and use your life magic to bring me back.”
I have a rare gift; so do all my siblings. My family bred for that sole purpose. I have a form of life. My twin balances me. Sable’s magic is death. One prolonged touch from her magic and death can set in and start to spread.
It works slowly, thank the gods. She needs contact for a few minutes to kill a grown man. My life magic is best at healing. One touch from me, and I can heal what she did to an extent.
Although I’ll never admit that Sable is stronger, she can kill; I can’t bring back the dead.
I have been cleaning up her mess my entire life. One time, she disliked the lettuce of the local farmer, so she went to the farm, poured her magic into the soil, and killed the crops.
Father allowed her to get away with it because one, Sable was learning how to use and control her magic, and two, I could heal the land and nourish the soil.That became the reckless cycle of how Sable and I mastered our magic.
Father forced her to sicken, and me to heal.
During the war, I spent my time in the healing tents. But the one person I wished I could have saved was Everett.
Sable is always one step ahead, one move ready to inflict pain, so my next statement shocks her. “Did you ever consider I’d only heal you so I could kill you again?” I hold my bow and peer through the narrow window as I take my aim. “Over and over again,” I mutter.
Silence.
Thank the gods!
“Killing him won’t fix anything, Selene.” Why did she have to speak? “You’ll only start another war.”
Contentment lifts my lips into a smile, crinkling my eyes. “That’s where you’re wrong, Sable.” I look at her one more time, watch the confusion wrinkle her forehead, and then her eyes dilate. Good, she is thinking about all the moves I’m playing. “You spoke to the guard who was on the northern wall; he saw you walking this way, notme.”
Oh yes, it’s clicking in her head.
You see, Galen will suspect me, but he won’t know the truth.
Which twin was it?
I knew Sable would follow me here; she always likes to torture me. Galen has seen how Sable has been sucking up to his court, trying to win favor.
But why?
Was it so that Sable could kill the hero and be spared because the people would forgive her?
See, that’s a smart suggestion. Sable just realized it, but wait, dear sister, there’s more.
Galen thinks Sable and I disagree, but has he considered it all a game so we can trick him?
Oh, the plot thickens.
He must contemplate Sable’s possible involvement. Which means… Sable’s leash is about to be tugged back hard. Those freedoms she enjoys will vanish soon.
Ultimately, having an evil twin offers me one significant benefit. She can be a scapegoat.
“Youwill start this war.” I look at Titus and release my arrow. “Not me.”
